MAXQDA vs ATLAS.ti

MAXQDA9.0Visit ATLAS.ti8.6Visit

Higher score MAXQDA #3 in Text Analytics Software 9.0/10 14-day trial Free trial✓ 2 of 4 features Visit MAXQDA

vs

ATLAS.ti #7 in Text Analytics Software 8.6/10 20-day trial Free trial✓ 4 of 4 features Visit ATLAS.ti

• MAXQDA fits best

  Established mixed-methods research teams

• ATLAS.ti fits best

  Broad, mature qualitative and text analysis

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Side by side

Feature	MAXQDA 9.0/10 Visit ↗	ATLAS.ti 8.6/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.0	8.6
Ranking	#3 in Text Analytics Software	#7 in Text Analytics Software
Best for	Established mixed-methods research teams	Broad, mature qualitative and text analysis
Pricing model	Paid	Paid
Starting price	—	20-day trial
Free plan	—	—
Free trial	14 days	20 days
Free trial length	14 days	20 days · no card needed
Deployment	Desktop, Self-hosted	Cloud, Desktop
Platforms	Windows, macOS	Web, Windows, macOS
Support	Phone, Email, Tickets, Docs, Live chat · 24/7	Email, Docs
Compliance	GDPR	GDPR
Built for	Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features MAXQDA 2/4 · ATLAS.ti 4/4
Sentiment analysis	✓	✓
Entity extraction	—	✓ (best)
Intent detection	—	✓ (best)
Topic analysis	✓	✓
Specs
Analysis sources	Documents	Not checked yet
Supported languages	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Deployment options	On_premise	Cloud
Our review
Pros	Combines qualitative, quantitative text and statistical analysis Supports sentiment analysis, topic modeling and AI coding Handles documents, PDFs, surveys, audio and video data	Analyzes text, PDFs, images, audio, video, surveys, and geographic data Combines AI coding, sentiment, entity recognition, transcription, and summaries Supports Web collaboration plus Windows and macOS applications
Cons	No free plan; access is paid after the 14-day trial Desktop deployment is limited to Windows and macOS Does not include entity extraction or intent detection	No free plan is available Paid plan pricing and tier details are not included here Its broad feature set may exceed the needs of narrow text-analysis projects
Our verdict	MAXQDA is desktop software for qualitative, quantitative text and mixed-methods analysis. It is designed for researchers, universities, research institutions and corporations working with varied evidence, including text, PDF documents,… Read the review →	ATLAS.ti is qualitative data analysis software for researchers, students, universities, marketers, UX professionals, and data analysts. It brings text, PDF, image, audio, video, survey, interview, focus-group, literature, and… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• MAXQDA — where it wins

  • Combines qualitative, quantitative text and statistical analysis
  • Supports sentiment analysis, topic modeling and AI coding
  • Handles documents, PDFs, surveys, audio and video data

  Where it doesn't

  • No free plan; access is paid after the 14-day trial
  • Desktop deployment is limited to Windows and macOS
  • Does not include entity extraction or intent detection

• ATLAS.ti — where it wins

  • Analyzes text, PDFs, images, audio, video, surveys, and geographic data
  • Combines AI coding, sentiment, entity recognition, transcription, and summaries
  • Supports Web collaboration plus Windows and macOS applications

  Where it doesn't

  • No free plan is available
  • Paid plan pricing and tier details are not included here
  • Its broad feature set may exceed the needs of narrow text-analysis projects

• MAXQDA9.0/10 · 14-day trial

  A broad desktop toolkit for research teams combining qualitative, text and statistical analysis.

  Visit MAXQDAFull verdict →
• ATLAS.ti8.6/10 · 20-day trial

  A mature, broad workspace for multimodal qualitative and text analysis.

  Visit ATLAS.tiFull verdict →